


Friends

by SmilesMcGee



Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Gen, pet death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-17 12:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmilesMcGee/pseuds/SmilesMcGee
Summary: JanTinbergen has a familiar change; the loss of one, the acquisition of another, and perhaps a mysterious third happening? Warnings for Death





	1. Creature

The first sun had already set in the distance, and the low winds carried the smell of burning vegetation across the flat and down into the small valley. There was a bonfire close to Krin’mor meant to see out the end of the festival, and since the wind wasn’t predicted to pick up for at least a day, it would likely continue until morning. 

Jan stepped down from his doorway, gently shutting the rough wooden door behind him. He’d been in his home sharpening tools when the lack of soft chitters and clinging struck him. Investigating both the front room and the back patient housing, he saw no sign of Creature. Jan went so far as to go below his house, checking the carefully hidden space to see if somehow his pet had managed to get down there. But no such luck.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Jan leaned forward, checking both directions down the path. Nothing. With a tiny squint he turned and began making his way around the side of the house. It wasn’t unusual to see Creature digging holes in the slight brush under the clothing line, or tearing up plants in Wolfmother’s garden chasing small animals. 

Creature itself was not exceptionally large, only coming up to a little over Jan’s knee when standing and relatively similar in size to Jan as a dragon. The sharp claws and pointy edges made it fierce enough, however, and Creature was given a wide berth by most dragons in the clan.

Jan sighed through his smile, gaze turning to the roof now that he was certain his pet wasn’t ravaging anywhere nearby at ground level. 

“Shanus,” He called up at the roof, then paused to wait. 

After some time a blue head popped over the edge of the house behind his. Shanus stretched his arms over his head, thin, blue, and wiry, then draped them over the edge of the house. “Mm...yup?” came a sleepy return.

Jan pointed up at his own roof causing Shanus to lift his head to try and peer over at it. “Nothin’ up there, Doc. L’kin’ for sm’thin?” Jan nodded, “Creature.” Shanus shook his head, “Haven’ seen it. Not since... yesterday?”

Taking his hands out of his pockets, Jan nodded his thanks and turned to walk away, intent on finding his creation. Shanus waved limply as he left. After a yawn and a stretch he’d likely get up and join the party.

While slowly poking through various hiding places and likely sources of food for his beloved pet, Jan thought back on how long he’d had the thing. Creature was his own creation, made from strange and spare parts he’d collected back when he was a wandering doctor in the Scar. One night he’d found the dying body of a small bonepicker, too far gone to fix or be of much interest, but working well enough to peak his interest. The process had been long and.. well.... extremely torturous to watch for anyone squeamish or weak of stomach, but had made good use of his best parts and created something new entirely. 

He himself had never named it, but it followed him around on wobbly legs for a very long time. Jan had worked continuously to upgrade and stabilize the creature, and eventually it was more than happy to eat things that it found and rub on his leg when it saw fit. He brought it with him when he left the Scar and traveled into the edges, and all the way through the Boney’rd and into SedAhrkMen. After settling down and learning more language, he’d been pressed on what manner of beast it was. His only response had been, “Cree’ture,” thinking that they were simply asking for a description of it, and the name had stuck. 

By this time, the second sun had nearly set, and light was getting slim. Slightly worried now, Jan stopped to ask another person. “Creature?” 

Dave shook her head, “Sorry, Jan-a-Jam, haven’t seen it nowhere. Just woke up!” He nodded slowly, that made sense. Zucca however, having overhead the question, turned to them. 

“Yes? Creature? I’ve seen.” With his usual smile, Jan tilted his head at her. She pointed out to the west, “Went that way, behind my house, ‘bout..... third rib?” Zucca shook her head, “Seem’d small, hiding, figured maybe goin’ to find somethin’ to wrestle n’ din’ wan’ get caught.” 

Jan hurried away before she’d even finished, something sitting uneasy in his gut. He pulled back the edge of his glove as he went, checking the coloring on his wrist. _Hmm.. Not a bad green... So not the result of sickness._

Why would creature head that far out of the clan? The bones in Zucca’s yard were usually a big draw for the strange pet, but that side of the surrounding waste typically held _no_ interest for it. 

Slithering around as quickly as he could, he eventually spotted a small figure at the base of a rock, almost entirely shaded in the rapidly fading dusk. That had to be it. Approaching quickly, Jan stopped a few feet away warily, it never paid to put yourself in another creature’s range without first gathering all the details, not even his beloved Creature. 

The figure was still, limp, curled in on itself loosely against the bottom of the gently sloping rock. Padding closer and kneeling, Jan reached a gloved hand out to gently probe the beast. There was no response. He pressed again, smile twitching on his face. No response. There was..... no denial. He’d seen death more times than he could ever remember, he knew what it looked like. 

Jan pulled his gloves off shakily, smile slipping away entirely, and rested a bare hand on the coarse fur and feather gently. After a minute he moved to sit down, lifting the limp body into his lap and resting his back against the rock.

He stayed that way for quite some time. Hands resting in his oldest friend’s coat, the last slivers of light fading, darkness becoming deeper until only the faint glow of lights from the clan nearby and the stars remained. Perhaps.... his creation had simply grown old. There was no sign of struggle or sickness, and the ancient doctor knew that some things often left to fade from life privately. It saddened him, none the less. 

He couldn’t cry, but the small part of him that had slowly grown more used to the uniquely emotional way of most dragons quietly wished he could. He’d seen tears before, and they meant nothing, he knew them only as indicators of sadness and a supposed release of emotions and their hold on the mind. Having long forgotten what it was like, he desired not the feel of it, but rather, the idea. His mate did not cry often, but he had seen it, and couldn’t help but wonder if it would effect the way he felt now. 

The stars twinkled down at him, not even close to an unfamiliar sight in his untellable time living under them. They were... _Nice. They’re nice._

He stroked idly at Creature in his lap and closed his eyes, breathing in the cooling air of nighttime. He’d spent so long fixing it, working his hardest, and the slivers of worry and doubt and fear crept into him again, always just barely at bay in his mind. How long could he fix himself? Would he one day walk away to die? Would he outlive the few things he’d come to love? 

He pondered the volatile nature of his condition in the darkness, still unsmiling and alone. Now without the comfort of the creature that had lived to know him the longest. His own faint green glow illuminated the still form in his lap, and the soft, faint sounds of Life and Living floated through the desert as the people he had spent so long helping cheered the end of the celebration of the Grasslands. 

Jan stayed that way, until the chill set in, and the large bonfire began to fade out some, holding another remnant of the past in his hands; a Creature made of his own parts and desires. Another drop of Time under the starry skies of Sornieth. 


	2. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One friend leaves... but another may always enter.

It had been some days, and the pressing emptiness in the corner of Jan's room was beginning to wear on him. He found himself more and more fixated on it. The presence of Creature had never been very noticeable, and often the two would be separate for long periods of time with no consequence or notice from the other. But this was different.

If anything, the loss of his oldest companion was more noticeable than its presence had ever been. No more strange dead carcasses to be found in the middle of the room or carefully stowed behind boxes until they began to mummify. No more large holes on the side of the house where his beloved Creature had tried to dig its way in instead of asking to come through the front door. Jan, though he did not like to admit it, even missed the indifferent presence that Creature supplied as he threw up into his bucket late at night.

Creature now was carefully stowed under his lair. Wrapped tightly and carefully preserved for the time being. He looked down at his floor thoughtfully, smile small and instinctual, but not genuine.

It wasn't until the fourth or fifth night that he managed to fall asleep. His skin had been on fire for days, and the unusual dryness in the air wasn't helping. He'd passed out a few times for about an hour or so, but there was no real sleep.

Slipping off into a light doze, the pulsation of his heart humming quickly in his ears, Jan finally managed to let go.

Eyes stared at him, two at first, then four  then six, then eight, no ten, no twenty, no wait..

They surrounded him, bright, pink, laughing with no mouth and little movement. Squinting down at him as if mocking him for something he'd done. Laughing at the tiny form of him, made small in the circular surrounding of eyes.

They began to meld, shaping together, shifting from eyes to arms, grabbing at one another and pulling close, expanding and absorbing. Laughing and loud without true sound, dreams always devoid of it.

The pink forming eyes grew brighter, pink fading into white, brighter than the face of a god, blinding and choking. With a flash it was gone, Jan left surrounded by green, standing on a familiar path. It was part of the route to Wind, one he often traveled on his visits to the Ventusians, definitely nearing the clan on the cliff.

He turned, calm after so many cycles of similar occurrences. Dreams were sometimes... a little too real. It usually meant they soon would be.

Surveying the space provided no clues. Nothing seemed out of place. The bushes rustled with animals, the breeze blew, and nothing stood out as unusual.

Suddenly Jan froze. The feeling of eyes heavy on his back, something... could see him. He stood still, turning suddenly seemed a fools move.

The feeling of being watched lingered. This was... a dream, he was sure of it. A premonition. Nothing had ever seem him before, it wasn't... well, he wouldn't say not possible, since experience had hammered that reaction out of him long ago, but it was certainly... unusual. New.

The gaze shifted, circling him from a distance, clearly fixated. It moved around until it was just to the side of him, and he flicked his eyes to try and see what it was. Who could possibly see him in a space where he didn't exist.

He saw nothing. Bushes. Leaves. Flowers. Gra-

He clenched. Flowers. Those hadn't been there before. Bright pink and carefully hidden. He squinted, smile twitching into place.

He stood there, locked, for what seemed like an age, before slowly... two eyes appeared, glowing among the bushed.

He sucked in a breath, paralyzed, as the eyes launched themselves straight at him.

Jan's eyes flew open, a gasp tearing itself violently from his chest as he woke. 

Thin, pink eyes stared deep into his, a mere inch from his face. Something standing on his chest, heavy because it was unexpected, but overall rather light.

The flowering fox stood, tail swishing, poised for the kill. Jan lifted a trembling hand, deeply unsettled, unsure what it wanted what it was and what it meant.

Slowly, he reached up, and placing his hand behind it's head, gently scratched.

The eyes closed, tongue lolling out. Jan stopped, moving slow, and in one sudden movement it turned on his chest and circled, settling down like a small cat on his chest, tail tucked around it. With a tiny chirp it nestled its head down, settling in.

Jan stayed completely still, hand hovering for almost half an hour, before slowly lowering his hand onto the slumbering fox. The fur was soft and silky. Tiny petals and blossoms intermingled and somehow growing from the creature. 

What..... in Sornieth _was_ this thing. It had seen him, had it been there in truth? Did it come from the future? Would... he see it there perhaps? How had it seen him? Had it jumped somehow _out_ of his dream and into his reality? Was it... somehow able to travel through space using dreams? Millions of questions and theories raced through Jan’s head, his chest warmer than usual as the pink mystery slept, tail twitching slightly. 

He looked down at it, his hand still resting gently on its back. 

“Veggie.” Its eyes opened just a sliver to look at him, unmoving and only vaguely interested.

“I’ll call you Veggie.”  



End file.
